Brush Fire

My tribute to Mark Rothko

Brush Fire is part of my new series, Visionaries: My Tribute to the Innovators of Fine Art. In this image, I explore an untitled work from the American abstract expressionist, Mark Rothko (1903-1970).

When you see a Rothko in person, it's easy to imagine the big brushes the artist must have used to create the swaths of color across his canvases. As an homage to Rothko’s marvelous technique, I feature a dangling house paint brush loaded with candy apple red paint.

About the Visionaries series

Every museum store in the world carries postcards of their most popular works. I have dozens of these cards featuring every style of painting imaginable.

Composition details

The original Rothko painting is big - it would have required a great deal of physicality to make. He would have had to use his whole upper body to move the large brush across the canvas to get these effects. Since Brush Fire is on a much smaller scale, I used a little brush and tried to try to mimic the physical arm movements with just my hand and wrist. It was an entertaining challenge to get the right vibe.

I offer another nod to the artist’s techniques in the abstract background, in which I did employ big brushes and lots of movement, a la Rothko. First, I painted a Rothko-like abstract field, with bright colors and bold strokes. Then I painted a wash over the entire surface to yield a texture that was subtly evocative of the artist’s work. I needed the background to be light enough to not interfere with the foreground subjects and the bold shadowplay.

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About

For 35 years, Richard Hall enjoyed a successful career in fine art, using his talents to explore the opposing worlds of abstract art and traditional still life. But chance intervened when a mischievous toddler added her two-cents worth to one of Richard’s still life settings, prompting Richard to see his work in an entirely new way. READ MORE

All product and company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. The use of products in artwork by Richard Hall Fine Art is for creative and artistic purposes. The trademark holders are not affiliated with the maker of this product and have not endorsed, sponsored, authorized or licensed this product.
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